World Health Organization

By GREGORY ZELLER // With synthetic opioids increasingly implicated in the alarming number of drug-overdose deaths plaguing the nation, a stalwart Long Island biotech’s DNA-based tracking technology has received a major endorsement. The peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE has published a paper by Stony Brook-based Applied DNA Sciences on the molecular tagging of pharmaceuticals – a next-gen supply-chain authenticator that Applied DNA considers unforgeable, inescapable and particularly useful in a world where counterfeit drugs are…

By GREGORY ZELLER // Add another critical Brazilian regulatory approval to Chembio Diagnostics’ portfolio. The Medford-based point-of-care diagnostics specialist announced this its week the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, Brazil’s federal health-regulatory agency, has approved Chembio’s DPP Dengue System. The test allows “simultaneous and discrete” detection of antibodies against all four dengue serotypes, covering both active infection by dengue virus and prior exposure to the virus – critical measures for both treatment and surveillance of…

By MARC ALESSI // It’s no secret that Long Island has problems with cellphone service. More than 200 cellphone “dead zones” were identified in late 2016, as well as poor-quality network speed, reliability and performance. U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has even urged carriers to improve coverage on the Island. As a longtime resident of the North Shore, I have witnessed firsthand what it means to not have reliable wireless connectivity with our mobile-enabled electronics….

By GREGORY ZELLER // A Stony Brook biotech looking to carve a nanotech niche in the science of glaucoma treatment is eyeing some impressive laboratory results. Sustained Nano Systems, working closely with Stony Brook University’s Center for Biotechnology, has “achieved positive in-vitro results on long-term sustained delivery of Latanaprost for glaucoma treatment,” according to a company statement. Decoded: The biotech can keep the No. 1 glaucoma drug ticking for 159 days in in-vitro tests, which…

Welcome, dear readers: And over the year’s penultimate hump we go. Just five more days until Christmas and 11 until tumultuous 2017 runs its course. Boy, have you earned a holiday. The Innovate LI team will be catching up on baking, last-minute shopping and gift-wrapping, so watch for our next newsletter on Dec. 27. We hope you enjoy a peaceful, safe and joyous weekend! Before there was Octomom: When Nadya Suleman famously gave birth to…

By GREGORY ZELLER // A multiyear federal grant will plug a top Long Island researcher into medical science’s foremost diabetes study. Alan Jacobson, chief research officer at Mineola-based NYU Winthrop Hospital, has secured a $4.23 million stipend from the National Institutes of Health to study the long-term neurocognitive effects of type 1 diabetes. The five-year grant will help Jacobson better understand how the disease – which affects more than 1.25 million Americans, according to the…